


Death of Legends

by AnnaCipactli12



Series: A Dance of Giants [1]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV), Star Wars - All Media Types, The Spanish Princess (TV), The Tudors (TV)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Dysfunctional Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-07-28 00:56:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20055409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaCipactli12/pseuds/AnnaCipactli12
Summary: You know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach after a disgusting binge, the morning after a drunken night out or a bad hook up; that makes you wonder 'how the hell did I get to this point?' Why couldn't you just say no? Well ... this is something like it. A long, long time ago, our galaxy was under siege by the forces of evil. This is not your typical story of a Princess who gets rescued by the knight in shining armor. In this story, you will meet no heroes, only villains.The moral of this story is not everything in legends is true.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of my first crossover series but rather than make it drag on endlessly, I decided to resume it with the occasional flashback here and there to explain the present events in this story. Enjoy!

You know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach after a disgusting binge, the morning after a drunken night out or a bad hook up; that makes you wonder 'how the hell did I get to this point?' Why couldn't you just say no? Well ... this is something like it. A long, long time ago, our galaxy was under siege by the forces of evil. This is not your typical story of a Princess who gets rescued by the knight in shining armor. In this story, you will meet no heroes, only villains.  
The moral of this story is heroes aren't real. If there are good people in this world, they never make it to the end of the race. They, the ones pulling the strings, don't let them. They kill them before they get two steps ahead of their rivals.

You can't have an honest people rule the galaxy or write history. They'd be too frank and fair, and normal beings who live arbitrary lives despise that.

There have been many retellings of my story. Some more imaginative than others. All of them are naught but pure lies ... You want to hear the real story? Grab a drink and sit back, folks. Don't get too comfortable though. There's nothing in this story that is meant to inspire or make you feel good. At times, it will feel that way but by the end you'll see that like the serpent in the garden of Eden, it was all a big ploy to deceive you with promises of hope and glory that blind you from the harsh realities of life.

**~o~**

**Two Months after the Battle of Endor**

Sometimes Mary looked at the sky and wondered what led them to this. Anakin comforted her in her time of need. But it wasn’t the same as when her son was with her. The kid that should’ve been mine. Anakin thought.

That kid had been a prodigy since birth. Anakin wanted to hold Mary in his arms, place his hands above her head and give her a blessing like he’d seen in his visions the first Jedi give their pupils but that’d be useless too. His previous attempts to cheer her up had ended in failure.

Mary never forgave her mother for not telling her the truth about her parentage. That built up anger exploded when Obi Wan lied to her and confirmed it.

_“How dare you? My father was Henry VIII, King of England, Ireland and France. He was a heretic and an adulterer but he loved my mother, I know he did and he also loved me!”_

_“No, Mary, Henry only cared about one thing and that was his persona glory.”_

_“No, you’re lying!”_

_“You know I am not. You are my daughter. The Force runs through your veins as it runs in mine. You can tell when someone is lying. You always have.”_

_“No. No. I refuse to believe that.”_ Mary kept saying until she let go of her arrogance. The story could have ended there. No galactic civil war. No empire. No Galactic Civil War.

Obi Wan’s refusal to apologize and atone for hus sins, made her snap.

Things weren’t the same after that.

_And yet, even after everything she’s suffered, lost and gain, we are here. Back to the beginning._ Anakin swore he would never use his pain again as an excuse to tap into the dark side of the Force but seeing Mary like this, made him reconsider.

“Do not do it, Anakin. You are everyone’s hero. The hero of the Old Republic. The hero without fear. If they want me to go through the mother’s mercy, I will gladly do it for both our sakes.”

“Stop sacrificing yourself for them. Just look at them.” Anakin pointed his finger to the crowd outside the building. Inferior beings, ignorant urchins with holo cards and rudimentary posters condeming the two of them, but mainly Mary, for their war crimes.

"You always saw them as second-fiddle." She gave a dry chuckle. "And how could you not when you were the dark lord of the Sith. The Emperor's top dog ..." Her chuckles turned to sobs. "I want them back Anakin. I thought I had lost our child. I prayed day and night that the Lord would give me another chance, that I would wake up and all of this turn out to be a terrible nightmare. When Owen was born, I thought at first that this was proof that I was still in the Lord's good graces but then ... seeing how Arthur still obsessed over my mother, I couldn't do it anymore ... Owen was the only thing keeping me alive."

"You're not the only one who lost someone dear to them. Your son brought you joy, I had nothing but my hatred to keep me company."

"And how am I to blame for that?"

"I am not blaming you. I am blaming myself for believing the Emperor's lies. We were both fooled by people we trusted. Don't think for a second that you were the only one who regretted giving into darkness." Anakin said.

Mary gave another dry chuckle, albeit this was short-lived. "That's the funny part. for the longest time, I felt blessed by it. I didn't want to leave it. Then Owen got captured and he and Lyanna eloped and I ... everything crashed for me." She broke again in tears.

Anakin moved closer to her. He put his arms around her waist. No matter how much she ate, she always felt a whole in her belly. It was flat. _And it will always stay flat._ A daily reminder that she could no longer create life.

"You didn't have to come back for me. I am sure Jon told you how pointless your odyssey was."

Anakin didn't care what Jon's view of Mary was, but having been one of the few men he respected, it was harder for him to dismiss the Regent of the Developing Regions. "Jon was fortunate he was revered as a hero and respected by his men," Anakin said. There was no need for him to include himself among those who respected the former bastard of Winterfell and last true Targaryen."It would have been a different story if it was his lady."

The frivolous Ice Queen, as Mary had nicknamed her. It was a nickname that stuck. Most of her rivals and jealous imperial spouses who barely had any influence, called her this.

Sansa Stark didn't mind. Ned Stark's only surviving offspring, found it amusing. On the contrary, the more hatred and envy she conjured from these people, the more invigorated she felt. 

Anakin had a serious talk with Jon before he died. He asked him why he had chosen her instead of agreeing to the Emperor's proposal.

_"I thought about it long and hard. After Tyrion convinced Bran that going North was the right thing to do, I spent endless nights, reliving that moment. It would have been so easy if I said 'yes' but what if this soul transfer didn't work? Or what if it did and she was consumed by her hatred as you and Mary were? I wouldn't mind dying. I have been ready for death since I joined the Night's Watch. Seeing her turned into what you and I are now however ... worse than she ever was, was something I could not bare so I said no and to prove my loyalty to the Emperor I burned every last vestige of the three eyed raven and handed him my brother."_

Anakin hadn't known this. He was surprised that Jon would go against what the dark entity known as the "old gods" to the Northeners and the children of the forest and "lord of light" to the red priests, had predicted. To the simplest mind everything is impossible unless his god or gods are involved. Jon's biggest flaw was falling for the innocent facade his family had put up. A facade the Emperor saw right through from the start. His dark master had let the darkness that possessed Bran grow. Without control a dark spirit couldn't be tamed, even by itself. Before long, these entities, lost all semblance of their mortal selves. If they were human, they became inhuman.

Jon's gods were no more real than his red priestess' red god. The dark entity which had relied on human vessels that once possessed were blessed with the title of "three eyed raven" by the children of the forest, had been ousted by its ego. It forgot who it was and what role he had played in the history of the Jedi, when the Sith were yet to exist.

Ironically, his aim of taking over the entire planet, had been foiled by its finite knowledge. With every new vessel he acquired, his conscience throughout earth expanded but with every bit of piece of information he acquired, a piece of his old self was lost. Some of what was lost was ancient Jedi knowledge. Once he had taken full control of Bran, the last remnant of his old life disappeared. This made it easier for Palpatine to control events on Earth.

_Bran fell because he thought he was helping others. The dark entity controlling him fell because he became full of himself. Neither realized that Jon's greatest flaw was also his greatest weapon against his enemies. _

If Jon hadn't fallen hard for Daenerys, he would have taken the Emperor's bait which would have still yielded the same results. Bran would've died but the shock and pain he experienced wouldn't have been there. Jon's love for Daenerys and his past actions against her, turned him into his fiercest commander. Once Bran fell from his chair, clutching his throat, looking at Jon with the eyes of a child instead of a man who had pretended to be a King; Bran and the dark entity possessing him, knew that a monster had risen.

_"You think she knew you would choose her after you killed her only remaining brother_?" Anakin asked him. 

Jon nodded. "_Tyrion Lannister warned me not to understimate her. I didn't listen. I didn't listen to most of what he said, the things that I did listen to were the biggest mistakes of my life. But this is one of those times that I wish I did. She was my key to keeping the North safe from Imperials. With her as Queen, Winterfell would be safe. We both knew what we were in for. Family, Duty, Honor. Those were her mother's words and like a good Tully and an honorable Stark, she excelled in her role as wife, ruler and mother. Two healthy offspring who were perfect in her eyes and a country that adored her ... I can't say the same for the rest of the planet."_

_"The Emperor could have disposed of Sansa and replace her with-"_

Jon did not let him finish that sentence. _"Arya will always be my little sister for me. The brave girl who killed the Night King and overcame many obstacles to get back to her family. Her ships to different parts of the globe, brought all nations under Stark dominion. She lived her life as she always wanted, free. It's more than I can say for us." Jon said. "Trust me Anakin, we lose the ones we love. It's hard but we must move on."_

_"Mary is still alive."_

_"Is she? Living like that, she might as well be dead. You hear what she calls herself now?"_

Anakin did not need to be reminded. But Jon reminded him anyway.

_"She is repeatedly humiliated by her mother and instead of fighting back, she cries herself to sleep. I have my spies too."_ Jon said._ "Her mother suffers too. She can't bring herself to admit it."_

"Since when did her mother ever cared about anyone that is not herself. That woman was a bitch to everyone except her own mother and that is only because the woman saw her as a carbon copy of her." Anakin scoffed. "More like her father, I'd say. Henry VIII was too far in love to see it and so was my master." He added with a smirk, "At least he had the common sense to walk away. Everyone always asks what makes us turn dark. They have no idea that we are like everyone else. Expecting too much of us is what makes us the worst sinners."

"If lady Stoneheart and Catherine of Aragon were here," Jon gave a cold chuckle, "they'd fucking bond like that." He snapped his fingers. "It's not fair what was done to all of us. The Jedi were so certain they were raising the perfect soldier that in their ignorance they did not realize that their path to serenity led straight to hatred. Perfection wasn't enough. Never was. You can have your perfect savior, born of the right mother, conceived by the force or a dragon prince and all that," Jon waved his hand dismissively. "But if you lack a good parental figure, what does it all matter?" Jon paused for a second then resumed. "I don't want to blame the Jedi, Catelyn Stark, Catherine of Aragon, the Lannisters or anyone else. We are what we are. We had a dozen choices. We could have walked away many times and that would have been it. Give the middle finger to destiny but we did not. It wasn't destiny that brought us where we are. It was us. You can't save her, Anakin."

It was the first time that Jon had called his old friend by his given name. It no longer bothered him. He hadn't embraced his old self (yet). However, it would have been a mistake to call himself Vader. He was somewhere in between and that middle ground bothered him. Not to know who or what he was. Where he should go from this point on.

Anakin was not about to give in to Jon's lame attempts to convince him to surrender his pursuit of Mary. _Yet Jon tried. Force damn him, he tried. I thought I could fix everything. Again I ended up making things worse._

_No!_ Enough of self pity. It was insult to Padme and the only woman living he truly ever loved but was too coward to fight for. Mary. Those disgraceful ruinous hypocrites had done this to her. Anakin wasn't Vader anymore. He couldn't snap their necks and turn away as his cronies dragged their corpses away.

> _**Better to rule in hell, then to rule in heaven**_ -a terrestrial, former rebel now turned religious leader, founder of a new sect of Puritanical Christians in the Outer Rim, wrote. He was damn right.

It felt better when it was Vader. The hatred absolved him of guilt. It was that invisible ice dragon that made him the most feared man in the galaxy after the Emperor. No threat was too great or risk ever present to make him rethink his life choices. Whereas others were paralyzed by fear, he thrived from it.

_Fear is still part of you. _His inner voice told him._ It has always been there. And will always be there._

This is what it felt to be Anakin Skywalker. Surrounded by fake smiles, empty platitudes, broken memories and shattered dreams. The woman he'd forsaken his soul for wasn't the woman his heart desired. She was an angel. Something pure, flawless. She was perfect. _But it was just a dream_. Eventually he woke up from that dream. It was too late for him to turn back the clock.

What he and Mary had could have, definitely should have but it wasn't. Yet he wasn't deterred from his present objective. "Mary, your mother is the greatest actress that ever lived but her tears aren't going to be enough to convince the triumphant rebel alliance." Seven Hells! He's surprised if she convinced the Naberries. They, more than anyone, wanted to see Mary shame herself before the streets of Naboo where her daughter's funeral walk was held.

Why couldn't Mary see that? Anakin told her of the humiliation other women like her endured. Jane Shore, even Cersei Lannister!

"I know about Cersei Lannister. I have seen it through my daughter's memories. Myrell does a good job reminding me of it every time she visits me."

Of course she does. She wants payback. So does Leia. The two half-sisters had not been aware of their relationship until the truth had come out. Deep down though, they had always felt connected. Bail Organa and those three furies had made sure that they grew up together and got involved with the rebellion to crush them.

"We can't change who we are Mary." He said, echoing his earlier thoughts. "Leia, Myrell, Kenix and Luke are fully grown adults to know what is right and what's wrong. This is wrong. No amount of politicizing is going to sanitize this."

"I don't care. I want this." Mary's firm tone matched the conviction in her eyes. She joined her hands together as in prayer and pressed them against her chest. She wore a simple gown, dark blue with a headscarf that covered almost all of her hair except for a small flair of red hair. This look was a sharp contrast to the glamorous gowns and jewels she adorned herself with when she was an imperial inquisitor. "I held Owen in my arms as he bled to death. I still see their faces. Alfred was only a child! It's my fault they are dead."

"Then pray to your sky God, God damn you! Don't give in to those bastards. You can slit your wrists yourself right now or jump from the highest window for everyone to see. They will not give two hoots about it. Nothing will ever be enough. In their eyes, you'll always be a monster."

"Maybe I should be." 

Anakin groaned. _Not this again._

"Maybe you should admit that you are one too. How many people did we kill? How many lives did we destroy? When will enough ever be enough? I am tired of looking over my shoulder every time, seeing their faces when I wake up, when I go to sleep. I want to be rid of this guilt. It is eating me up inside and I can't go on like this anymore. I am not strong. I never was!"

"Yes you were. You have only forgotten. Let me help you. Let's run away. To hell with the galaxy. There are rumors of settlements far beyond the galaxy. I have one of the sith holocrons that contains secret information the Jedi never wanted their pupils to know. We can go there. Start all over from scratch."

But Mary refused. She was dead set on castigating herself, subjected to a humiliation ten times worse than her predecessors.

Anakin stormed out of her room. He was so enraged that the guards outside his rooms didn't think twice when he told them to leave him be. If the former dark lord of the Sith told you to leave, you damn well complied. Besides -they reasoned- he wasn't going anywhere. The Naberries knew him well enough. Much as they hated to admit, their son-in-law had one weakness. As long as Mary was alive, safe and sound and in their custody, Anakin wasn't going anywhere.


	2. Wasted

There were many things Catherine refused to be subjected to. Her daughter’s humiliation was one of them. Poor Mary. She mentally cried. I must be strong. She kept telling herself over and over since she rose from her bed.

Mary hated being called stupid. She called herself ‘Bella’ now. It was a grave injustice Arthur had committed to her daughter. “She is Obi Wan’s daughter. Were she my brother’s, I would treat her as uncles treat their nieces, even royal bastard ones.”

“She is a royal bastard. My bastard. She was born from my womb. After all the miscarriages and dead babies, Mary was the only one whom I could be proud to hold in my arms.”

“How unmotherly of you. All those offspring my brother would have been so proud of …” Arthur chuckled. “I guess I have the Force to thank for because without its great wisdom, we would not be here.”

Catherine was brought back to the present by the incessant knocking in her door. It was Anne. “Is something the matter?” She asked, seeing the visible worry on her friend’s face.

“I was thinking about Arthur. My time with him. Do you know what he told me after that failed rescue attempt?” Anne knew very well about that botched attempt that ended with Obi Wan Kenobi’s life yet she said nothing, opting instead to let her friend continue. Seeing no sign from Anne of speech, Catherine resumed her tale, “He told me the Force was wise as Sidious’ master, Plagueis, and that it brought us back for a reason.”

“He was saying nonsense. Can you expect more from a descendant of Melusina, that witch dark sider who lured men into her keep so she could breed dark users to use against both Sith and Jedi?”

Catherine shook her head. “It’s not Melusina. Elizabeth of York threatened me many times. She was never that hostile.” _Not even his grandmother _–she thought. The indomitable Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, was the grandmother and mother-in-law from hell, but she often allied herself with Elizabeth, thinking that their alliance would be powerful enough to crush the Spanish Princess’ will._ They did not know me. None of them did_.

Except Arthur.

Arthur thought that he could rekindle the passion that they once had. When the ghost of her last husband appeared to her as his younger self, Arthur cursed him till kingdom come. _“You are the worst mistake in my father’s reign! If it were not for you, Melusina’s curse would never have gotten me. Our mother bore you so she could have a replacement child so she wouldn’t feel guilty about cursing her own flesh and blood.”_

Arthur repeated the same curses, although with slightly different oaths, when his grandmother, Elizabeth Wydeville, and mother, Elizabeth of York, appeared.

He wanted them gone from his life. But when it came to the Tudors and Wydevilles, blood was thicker than water. Eventually, Arthur came to accept them. Elizabeth of York thought this was progress but she was soon proven wrong. Every time she and Elizabeth Wydeville appeared, Arthur would show them their reincarnated ancestress, brought low thanks to the medical procedure he had put her through after giving birth to his last child.

_“Isn’t she much better when she is quiet? Tell them Bella how you yell ‘stop! Stop!’ like a dirty whore in heat every time the maidservants laugh at you for playing with good old Alfred.” _

Catherine was ashamed of herself when she thought back to those moments. She had contributed to Mary’s humiliations. She justified it by telling herself that pathetic thing was not her daughter. Mary would have fought tooth and nail against Arthur’s abuse. Even if she knew the fight was lost, she would have fought to the bitter end. Even if it meant her death.

“The worst part of what he said is that in some twisted way he was right. I don’t know if it is the Force. I have seen a lot to know that nothing happens by chance. Maybe it was the Force, maybe it was not. One thing I am certain, there is the spark of the divine of us. God made it possible for our souls to inhabit these clone bodies. He chose this cruel fate for you and me while letting Arthur plant his seed on my daughter. I drove her to him.”

“Not this again, Catherine. You are not responsible for your daughter’s sins. Mary is a grown woman. She could have stayed put. Watched her daughters from afar. All she had to do was wait and Obi Wan would have told her they were alive. Instead she chose vengeance. We do what we can to protect our children until they are old enough to decide they don’t need us any longer.” Anne said, speaking from personal experience that Catherine was well aware of. Her only daughter and the only offspring of Henry VIII to survive the purges, had fallen for an imperial defector. It was none other than the only son of Jon Targaryen and Sansa Stark, Eddard Targaryen-Stark.   
When those two fell. They fell hard. It was a battle of the wills that lasted what seemed like centuries until finally the two of them admitted their feelings for one another.

Mary was a different animal altogether. She didn’t know what she wanted and therein lay the source of all her troubles.

“Mary was born to be free. I knew from the minute she recited all of Plato’s book to Master Vives that she was meant for greatness.” She sank into an arm chair that was facing Anne. She shifted her gaze to the glass window. It showed Theed palace. Even after the endless battles, it hadn’t lost its splendor. Naboo was still one of the most beautiful planets on the galaxy. “She doesn’t deserve to walk that walk.”

“I agree with you but what can we do? The Naberries hold all the cards here. They played us good. With their daughter being the mother of two of the rebel alliance’s heroes, there is no way we can overturn the new republic’s verdict.”

Catherine snorted. “New Republic! It is not made official.”

“You should be thankful for that. Otherwise, the punishment would have been death. This way, there is a chance that she could be left in peace after she’s done with her penance.”

“Couldn’t someone else volunteer in her place? I …”

“No! Catherine, you and I will be seen as traitors and put to death if we try something. Mary will still do the mother’s mercy, except this time there won’t be anyone to give her protection afterwards.” She left unsaid that there wouldn’t be any protection for her daughter either. Elizabeth was her own woman. That much Anne had come to terms with, but she wasn’t without enemies. With all the experience she had acquired, Anne could help her navigate the murky waters of new republic politics.

After their longsome conversation, Catherine capitulated. She surrendered to the fledgling new government that would eventually become the new republic, verdict. 

The stage was set for the whore of Babylon to walk barefoot naked as when god made her, and be judged by everyone in the galaxy who was eager to see someone who was previously feared brought to her lowest.

* * *

Obi Wan visited Anakin. Anakin had no desire to hear another sermon from the sanctimonious Jedi. Obi Wan remained. There was still a lot of anger left in Anakin. He wanted to prepare him for what was about to happen, so he wouldn't unleash that anger on thousands of innocent spectators and prove his detractors wrong.

"You think I care what the others think? They think me a monster. I will give them one." He walked through Obi Wan's ghostly form.

"Do not give into your hate Anakin. Mary would not want that. Neither would Padme. She wants you-"

"Do not mention her name! If she cares so much, why doesn't she appear to her family? They are the ones doing this. They can't stand the thought that there is someone else better than their daughter. The martyr, the hero, the warrior queen."

"Anakin!"

"You and I stopped being friends a long time ago so don't Anakin me." Anakin said, hating that Obi Wan felt that he could ameliorate things between Anakin and the rebel alliance to get them to be on first name basis again.

"Whether you like it or not. I am and always will be Vader. He is a part of me." Anakin said.

"I don't believe that and neither does Mary. She isn't prepared for what is coming but she is willing to face it. That is why you must be there for her afterwards. She is going to need someone to show her that she isn't alone."

Anakin gave a dry chuckle. "She is truly your daughter. I tried to convince her to fly away with me during the victory celebration at Endor but she needed time to think. Her mother put those doubts in her head about how everything was going to be alright from now on. If she had said yes, the Naberries wouldn't have had the time to poison her sons."

"But you can't change the past Anakin. She made her choice as you must now make one that will benefit the both of you. You two need to stop running and face what you've done."

Anakin's eyes glowered at Obi Wan. "Get out." Obi Wan remained. "I am not going to repeat myself again. Get out. I never want to see nor hear anything from you or any other Jedi."

At last, the ghost of his mentor, best friend and rival disappeared. Anakin was left alone with his thoughts. He pondered on what would transpire the following morrow.


	3. Father of Lies

Mary took down her robe. Everyone, everywhere was watching. They chuckled as she walked. Marion was one of the people forced to watch.

No, it shouldn’t be written that she was forced. A dark part of her wanted to watch the woman she hated more than any other female in the galaxy, walk through the hot sun until her feet were red, dripping with blood.  
  
_“She is your mother!” Marion wasn’t moved by Vader’s chiding. _  
_ “A mother is someone who raises me. Who is there beside me when I am sick or scared,” she told him, adding how she’d wake up every night, drenching in cold sweat when he and the empire were stationed at Alderaan. "I couldn't understand it then but now I do and it makes me hate her more."_  
_ "Hate is not the Jedi way, daughter."_  
_ "I am not a Jedi, nor am I your daughter. A father is someone who stays there with you and gives you guidance. You can roll your eyes and look at me with that death look all you want. It's true. I grew up knowing only one mother and that was Margaery Tyrell. She, Olenna Tyrell and Cersei Lannister raised me."_  
_ Vader was visibly surprised to hear that. Marion went on to explain how the first time he came to the Alderanian court, she was only a child, but already assigned as a companion to Leia. "Everyone told me, address her as a Princess. Your Highness. I didn't."_  
_"You felt connected to her." Marion nodded. "Did it ever occur to you to ask why you looked nothing like Cersei Lannister's youngest son? Gold prevails over darker crowns." Vader noted. Before she could answer, he answered for her. "Of course, you did. Every day you must have wondered who am I really?"_  
_"Are you finished? If you think that is supposed to make me feel guilty, you're terribly mistaken." Through his eyes, she saw her own reflection. A malevolence which no longer scared her. It was the kind that her nanna Cersei would have been proud of. "I am the daughter of Margery Tyrell, granddaughter of Cersei Lannister. Their blood doesn't have to run through my veins to be worthy of their name. Accuse me all you like of being insensitive, I don't care. My pity died when you tortured me and Leia and destroyed Alderaan."_  
_"I didn't give the order to blow up your planet."_  
_"No? You stood by and did nothing. I saw it in Leia's memories. She didn't have to tell me anything. I felt it when the laser beam was shot. The cries of pain and desperation from every Alderaanian, including my family, as they met a horrible end." Marion said. She brought herself to that terrible moment. It had been only two seconds. But in those two seconds, the Alderaanians had experienced pain like no other. "You didn't have to give the order. You stood by as Tarkin commanded his subbordinates to fire the death star. Your hands are just as bloody as his."_  
_"If you do not do anything for your mother, it will weigh on your conscience. Take it from somebody who has been overtaken by anger and hatred. It never goes away. Before you know it, you will look at yourself in the mirror and hate what you've become."_  
_She smiled and said in a stone-cold voice, "Unlike you, when I go to sleep, I will have my spouse by my side, telling me how much she loves me, and I will dream of nothing but victory and the bright future that is to come thanks to the empire's destruction."_

Marion was certain that watching this bitch humiliate herself before the entire galaxy would be easy. _Damn my morals._ Cersei Lannister would have chided her big time. Olenna, not so much. Grand-nanna Olenna as she called her, would have acted as a stern teacher, using the moral rod to snap her out of her guilt._ I need her more than ever._

* * *

Mary looked helplessly to the throng of people shouting obscenities at her. If she had not tripped when she did and looked to her right, she would have seen her ghostly father having a hard time controlling himself.

Her mother's words came to mind.**_"Remember who you are. The daughter of Henry VIII and granddaughter of Isabel and Fernando"_ **-Only the last part was correct. She was not the King's daughter, she was not even a Princess or a wife. She was a monster! And monster deserve to be punished. I must lift myself up. For my sons. They died because of me. 

Obi Wan sensed her despair through the Force. He wanted to make his presence known and take her away from this hell but like her, she was bound by a sacred code.

_"My lady," Obi Wan greeted the Spanish Infanta. It was a sunny day on London. Something surprising given that this side of the planet was usually cloudy. He joked with his master that it was impossible for anyone to live under this weather. _

_The only good thing that came from this long assignment was that he got to spend time with the Princess Dowager. Her conviction and subtle ways reminded him often of Satine. Yet at the same time not. If they ever meet, the two women would get alone with each other. They were both outspoken and proud to a fault, but that is where the similarities ended. Whereas Satine would rather don her Mandalorian armor, the Spanish Infanta believed that femininity was a woman's strongest weapon._

_She rarely -if ever- showed fear when confronted by deadly strangers. When she and her entourage went to give aid to the poor in one of the dirtiest slums in the capital, she was met by an intimidating group of men. Instead of turning around and leave, she smiled at them and asked them if they could help them by unloading the loafs of bread and hot soup they had prepared for those inside the hospital._

_The Tudors didn't like her. Queen Elizabeth had died naming her daughter after her -so the rumor went. Truthfully, she hated Catherine but acted nice around her because she had no choice. She was bound by oath to Isabella to act as her surrogate mother while she was in England. _

_Margaret Beaufort, the King's mother and her intended spouse's grandmother, was less secretive of her dislike for her. The Countess of Richmond took every chance she got to throw jabs at the Spanish Infanta._

_Obi Wan normally intervened in this situations. He was hopelessly -as Satine put it- a knight through and through. But there was no need here. Catherine showed she was capable of defending herself._

_"My father showed me how to handle a sword and I saw my mother dispatch a few of her soldier before she finished the deed herself to deal with Infidel marauders." Seeing his face twist into an uncomfortable expression, she added, "Does that displease you?"_

_"No," he confessed. He was a man of few words. When he was around her however, he saw no reason to hide his true feelings. "Defending one self from violent offenders is an admirable thing but were those not men there seeking vengeance on what had been taken from them."_

_"Theier land. Our land. Who is to say what is truly theirs or ours. Might is right. When it comes to battle, who do you think God favors, the fly or the spider? I fancy he favors whoever has the gall to rise above his or her limitations" she states, emphasizing on the **her**, "is in the eyes of the Lord, the spider."_

_"You put every politician and Jedi philosopher to shame, milady." If she had not been born in the core system, she would have been tested. If her midichlorian was higher than normal, she would have been handed over to the Jedi to train. Her parents would have had no problem with this. Many royals considered it any honor to have one of their own train as a Jedi._

_He had thought about testing her blood but before he quickly backed down. Catherine of Aragon's destiny lay in England. "I am the daughter of the two greatest monarchs that ever lived. My mother told me that I should be afraid of my own shadow because everyone will look to cast doubt on my aspirations. 'You are a daughter of Spain but you must act as if you were born and bred in England. Otherwise, you will be eaten alive.' I laughed. I boasted that I can take on anyone, anytime, anywhere. Now I see things differently."_

_Indeed -thought Obi Wan. The death of Prince Arthur had drastically changed things for the Spanish Infanta. One of her ladies-in-waiting advised her against telling Dona Elvira that she had been a maiden untouched by man, but Catherine, being the proud, determined young woman that she was, got her way in the end._

_"How long before I have the crown in my head, you reckon? Have you seen a vision of me sitting next to my summer prince?" She asked, flashing a cheeky grin._

_Observant, well articulated, experienced young woman that she was, she didn't miss the Jedi apprentice's malcontent at the mention of her future husband. 'Poor Obi Wan' she thought. God forbid her. It was improper to think of him this way, but the young man had caught her interest. 'Cupid's arrow. Why did it have to land on me?' It was so unfair. If he was only a prince or King Henry VII's heir; she wouldn't have to be placed in this cruel conundrum._

_"Well?" She prompted._

_"Master Yoda says that the future is always in motion. What I see now, might not be what lies ahead for you."_

_"So you do see something? Maybe you just want to humor me. If so, humor me. Let's play the guessing game. You can be my astrologist for now."_

Unaware to him, Catherine was revisiting the same memory. Her daughter never cried. Seeing her break down in tears, made her cry as well.

Obi Wan refused to tear up. If by some chance his daughter watched or sensed him, she'd draw strength from him. How could she steel herself when he was an emotional wreck? 

"There is no emotion. Only peace." He whispered to himself, shutting down everyone around him except for Mary.

Mary didn't see him. She tasted the spit of a mother and her son who had gotten past the armed guards. "Imperial slut!" "Sith whore!" "Filty bitch!" "Jedi bastard!" Were among the slurs she heard as she kept on walking.

Even as her feet bled and she kept crying, calling for help and begging for forgiveness, her armed escort weren't moved by her pleas. They brusquely got her back on her feet and told her to keep moving.

_Damn you!_ Mary mentally shouted. She no longer knew if the curse was meant for them or for her. I can't do this anymore._ Please God, if you are out there, kill me. I am sorry. Is this what you want from me? To seem sunk to the bottom of every bottom? Fine, you have it! Just please, I beg of you, kill me or at least, make this pain more bearable._

When she thought she could no longer go through with this punishment, her armed escort told her to stop. Looking up, she saw her judges. Among them were the parents of Padme Amidala of House Naberrie. Ruwe remained his usual stoic self while his wife Jobal, let Mary see and feel her joy.

* * *

Anne had done many things in her life. Most of which she had no regrets. This wasn't one of them. Yet it had been necessary. She had convinced Catherine to attend her daughter's shame, so the two of them could have the last laugh.

As the judges began to read Mary her sentence, Jobal sat down. Everyone followed. "Wipe that smirk of your face." Anne whispered to her. Jobal wasn't offended by the former Queen of England remark.

She was just an old soul in a cloned body. Her time had past. Jobal's noble house was stronger than ever. What ever could this old queen do to her?

"I mean it." Anne said in a lower voice. Everyone's attention was on Mon Mothma who was still reading Mary's crimes.

"Your Majesty Anne or is it my lady? Terrestrial terms are ever fluctuating that it is easy how the smartest of us, have a hard time keeping track." Jobal said smoothly. "Threats do not work with me. You don't have an army of sychophants to do your every bidding. Your daughter is heir of nothing. My daughter's legacy lives on through her offspring, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker."

"Who will build a Jedi academy with her twin sister."

"Half sister." Jobal corrected. "Leia is his twin."

"Yes but he didn't grow with her. He has only known one sister and that is Kyra. Kyra saved him from becoming the emperor's slave and your precious son-in-law from succumbing to the dark side again."

"Am I detecting a sense of sympathy for the lady inquisitor."

Anne's tone hardened. "You stunt with Mary won't get you Padme back and it won't work for long. You can only drag someone through the mud for so long before the people get tired and see the new government as inefficient as the old one."

"Careful, lady Anne. Your words can be mistaken for treason." Jobal warned. Anne didn't care. She had been walking on thin ice before.

"I died once my lady. If this is what God intends of me, I am ready to meet death in the eye once more." She said.

After Mon Mothma concluded her long list of Mary's crime, she resumed the sentence. Much to Joba's unpleasant surprise, Mary's guilty verdict ended with her being placed under house arrest under the custody of Anne Boleyn.

Anne kept her smile all to herself. She didn't bother to face Jobal again. Catherine was a different story. She didn't know what to say. Anne assured her that she had nothing to worry about. Mon Mothma had appreciated their contributions, and with Elizabeth fighting alongside the small batallion of rebels headed by Princess Leia and Captain Han Solo on Endor to disable the shield generator; she took into consideration Anne's suggestion to have Mary released into her custody rather than be placed in indentured servitude in the Naberrie household.

Catherine felt deeply grateful, but a bit apprehensive. Visiting Mary meant that she would also have to see Anakin Skywalker. 

* * *

Obi Wan didn't respect Anakin's wishes. When Mary was taken to Anne's homestead on Naboo, she appeared to her. Cleaned, washed, with her wounds semi-healed, she felt happy seeing her father.

"I wanted to imagine myself as a girl. I prayed that I could go back to when I was a child because then, I could turn back the clock and make things right."

"There is nothing you could have done that would have changed what happened to the galaxy." Obi Wan said.

"I am not talking about the galaxy. Just me and Anakin. Everyone warned me, including Anne, to stay away from him but it seemed so perfect. The Jedi Knight and the Princess, just like in fairy tales." A tear fell down her left eye.

_Mary, the girl who never cries. What a joke I've turned into. _

Just at the moment Anakin arrived. "I told you I never wanted to see you again." He said to his former master.

"It's okay, Anakin. He is good company."

"How can he be good company when all he brings is more pain and misery. Did he tell you how you must be grateful that things didn't get worse and how you must now take this opportunity to be one with the Force?"

"Anakin, now is not the time." Obi Wan said sternly.

"When is the time Obi Wan? You and the Jedi have brought nothing but misery. If you truly care about your daughter, you will leave both of us alone."

Obi Wan sighed. He placed a hand above his daughter's, leaned forward, whispered in her ear a soft goodbye, then disappeared.

"You didn't have to be so cruel."

"Obi Wan is a Jedi. They are known not to feel anything." Anakin said in a derisive tone. Sensing there was something else on her mind, he asked her where would she go from here. "The people will never forget. The Naberries will still come after you."

"They won't. They have what they wanted. The Jedi bastard and Sith whore humiliated in galactic holo vision. Knowing that is something I will have to live with the rest of my life, as well as being reminded of my losses every day, is enough for them. There is nothing for them to do, except use that reel to remind the galaxy of what happens to those who give into their anger."

Anakin didn't like where she was going with this.

"Ever since I was little I wanted nothing more but to make my parents proud. When I found out who my father was, I wanted to use that knowledge to my advantage. But all I got was more pain and misery and of course, more lies. All my life, every time I have set myself to do something, I have been immobilized by lies. Henry VIII, a liar. My mother, a liar too and my father, the biggest one there was until I finally came face to face with the biggest one. No, Anakin it is not you. It's me."

"You and I made a promise to each other."

"I am sorry Anakin. I love you too much to let you delude yourself with false hope. I wish that we had met under better circumstances and that you and I, were truly married before the eyes of God but I am still the other woman."

"No, you are not. We have lost too much to back down. To hell with the galaxy and everyone else. You and I are the only people in this universe who truly matter." He kissed her but their kiss was shortlived. 

Mary placed her hand on his left cheek. She gave him one last kiss then withdrew her hand. "Truth is the daughter of time." She said in Latin.

Mary would change her mind. Of that, he was certain. Anakin let Mary deal with her grief. But he wouldn't honor her plea. He had turn his back on her in the past; after what they'd been through, he wasn't about to again.


	4. The Final Step

_ **"Death is peaceful. Love is blind. Among the greatest self-delusions mankind has indulged in is that we are the apex of the Lord's creations. I do not know if anyone will ever find this diary but if you do, I want you to know that the stain on my legacy, is one that every Force user shares with me."** _

Mary put down her pen. She had ran down of ink. Fitting. This was the last page of her diary. Whoever found it, would either burn it or guard it until the time was right to unveil what secrets the former lady inquisitor and royal bastard hid from the galaxy.

Anne came to her chambers to politely remind her of her mother's invitation to see her granddaughters. Mary nodded to Anne. She told her that she was delighted to hear that both her granddaughters were staying with her mother, and even more pleased that Marion was allowing Mary to see her daughter. 

"So you are coming then?" Anne asked. Her arms were crossed against her chest. 

Mary didn't immediately answered. Her responses had been slow. It took Anne some time to get used to this submissive behavior but after four tedious years, Anne had mustered up the patience to deal with her former stepdaughter.

Dressed in similar garbs as Catholic nuns from before the formation of the galactic empire, Mary adjusted her tight headdress. The only thing that set her apart from the nuns was the color of her clothing. Against their stark and depressing colors, Mary usually wore bright ones. Today she chose light yellow to match the orange of her headdress.

Anne had tried to get her to wear more formal attire, similar to the kind she used to wear when she was Henry VIII's daughter, but Mary's guilt coupled with her fear of displeasing the powers that be, made her turn down her offer.

"Tell my mother that I will be there as soon as Anakin picks me up. Do not worry for me, Anne. He and I discussed this over the holo vision yesterday. R2 can keep me company while I wait for him."

"Alright. Should you need anything, do not hesitate to ask." Anne said, leaving Mary to her own devices. No sooner had Anne turned her back, Mary recorded her last message for R2.

They say that death is peaceful, death is blind and unkind but for anyone who's been through it, they would tell you that it is the complete opposite. Death is fair. It comes to rich and poor alike and doesn't take any prisoners. Those who are ready to meet the old girl in the eyes, will feel themselves free from the heavy burden that is life.

In her first life as Melusina, Mary had done many terrible things. Plagueis had captured her essence. Through his newfound knowledge, he manipulated the midi-chlorians so she would be reborn as the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. What he and others didn't account for, is that the Force had plans of its own. Instead of inhabiting the vessel of another one of Henry VIII's sickly children, it chose a more suitable one.

In spite of its accumulated wisdom, the Force has never been omniscient. And never will be. The darker side of it has made sure of that. Those who dwell in the darkness see the danger in having an all-knowing power guiding every choice. 

When she was her mother's slave, Mary had been dumbed down to also serve Arthur who used her as a means to avenge himself from the curse that was placed on him by his mother and grandmother.

When she recuperated, thanks to Anakin's love, she recovered most of her memories from her previous life. Horrified by what she'd done and her sons' loss, she chose the path of moral self-flagellation.

After years of introspection, she came to the conclusion that the only way to make things right was to take the final step towards freedom.

* * *

Like with most droids, R2 was looked down upon by all sentient creatures. Yet, much like its protocol companion, there was more to the astromech droid than met the eye.

Its red eye flashed redder. It emitted sounds that can only be judged as sad. Mary did what only Anakin had done in his Jedi days. She regarded R2 as a person, rather than a droid.

"I know but you must promise me that you will see to it that he sees it. And none of those sounds, okay?" R2 did not want to nod but did so because otherwise she'd come to her knees to plead with him and that was something it could not bear.

"I had a friend like you once. Her name was Susan. I wanted to keep her with me but she chose the Jedi over me." Mary shuddered as she remembered what the Emperor had commanded of her. "I could have said no. So many opportunities wasted because I was so weak."

R2 sounded off alarm bells. Mary smiled a sadder smile. "You give me too much credit. There is only way out of this." She told the astromech unit. She kissed its astrodome forehead then wheeled away into the balcony.

_Such a beautiful sunset. May God guide my hand as I have guided many with my wiles to do evil._ She prayed. 

She closed her eyes, whispered the Lord's prayer, then opened her eyes and without looking down, she jumped.


	5. The Reckoning

Mary could have been much more. She was destined to be the greatest monarch that ever ruled England. The sky was the limit. There wasn't anything that her Heavenly Father wouldn't grant her. Her intellect, her enthusiasm and her innate altruism, made her the envy of Christendom.

But then, as usual, something had to come along to burst her bubble. That something were two people: Anne Boleyn & Anakin Skywalker. Two diametrically opposed individuals who disliked each other. But Anakin's dislike for Anne was soon overshadowed by his searing hatred for Mary's mother.

The woman who had big ambitions for her was responsible for what happened to her daughter.

When Anakin held her in her arms, Catherine screamed to let her go. It was her daughter, she should be the one holding her, screaming to the heavens to bring her back. Even in death, Catherine had to be the one everyone felt sorry for.

Anakin would not let her have this moment. She had mistreated Mary, used her for her own gains. No more.

Few people attended the funeral service. In Catherine's arms was her youngest great-granddaughter, Anakin's granddaughter. Mary's death was all the excuse Marion needed to keep him from seeing her. Catherine could have used that excuse too to keep him from visiting Alyra, Mary's oldest son's daughter but she had no need for that. Anakin had no desire to see her. Out of all of Mary's descendants, she was the one who took most after her.

Anakin's sense of morality died when they lowered her casket down. A part of him wanted to tell the others that no matter how much he fought against the will of the Force, whatever powers that be were involved with it, always had its way.

Anakin was done doing things for others. He was done being a tool of fate. Fate could eschew what plans it had for Anakin. Today, on the day, they buried his true love, was the day they also buried his moral compass.

** _"Color me blind. Color me shameless so I can go back to a time when the world was carefree and my third eye was open to everything that it had to offer. How I yearn my sweet heart for that world. Why cruel mistress that is fate, have you stolen it from me? Are you really that envious of what I could have achieved? A life without you, a life where I wasn't your source of amusement. Was that what it felt when I held the lives of two fishes I had picked out of water to take with me to the kingdom beyond the sea of wonders?"_**

Mary's diary were filled with such poems. Anakin found little interest in them, except for these ones. These were a reflection of her first life as Melusina. In them, she had inadvertedly given him the answers he was looking for.

_ **"There is a place that still remains ... it gives away the rotten scent of the absent spirit but the birth of old flesh turned anew by the will of a loved one who dares to give a part of himself to the abyss ... Once you cross the bliding light, all of life's questions are answered but beware for there is a forbidden path that crosses with the light. If you are too weak to distinguish it, it will blind you and turn that which you seek rotten to the core ..."** _

Catherine was among the few who wept in silence when they closed her daughter's coffin. The Naberries had the gall to come. No one could prevent them from attending. It was a good way to draw more support to the New Republic which was on its infancy. Remnants of the Empire were nearly decimated on the battle of Jakku. All that remained were a few squadrons and damaged ships. Last she heard from Anne's daughter, lady Elizabeth and her partner, the lord Eddard Stark, was that they fled to the unknown regions outside the galaxy.

_T_he imperial remnants had signed their death warrants going beyond the galaxy. The fabled settlements everyone spoke of were an invention concocted by the emperor to convince everyone of his might. They were as good as dead. _Good riddance._

The new republic's victory had emboldened the Naberries._ Fools._ _Their victory is as much as lady Elizabeth, lord Eddard Stark, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Kyra Skywalker and Marion Lannister-Tyrell's victory. Without their combined efforts, the new republic would not be._

They helped built its foundation and yet, for all intents and purposes, they were not the ones leading it. _Such a waste._ If Catherine were anyone of them, she would have taken command at the first chance she got and done as she pleased.

How longer did she have to bear their presence? Anne sat next to her. After all this time, all that we've faced and she still thinks that I am a sentimental woman. Nobody knew her. Not even Obi Wan. Everyone had mistaken her for this meek, mild-mannered, selfless woman with no will but her husband's. Always a pawn, never a player.

Catherine mentally screamed._ They should know by now that the daughter of the two greatest monarchs that ever lived never bows before anyone except the almighty Father. I am Catalina of Aragon and Castile. I was witness to the bloody battles my parents fought against the Moors. I was the only of my siblings, bastards and trueborn, who didn't shy away from the carnage when the soldiers came back, their armors splattered with blood and shit stains._

They all reel at the thought that her daughter could have been more than the pathetic self-pity crying woman she became. If only she had listened to her. What a charmer, proud, intellectual prodigee she could have been.

_Mary, why did you leave me? Why did you have to hurt your mother so?_

* * *

Obi Wan searched in the farthest reaches of the outer realms for her. Just when he was sure he'd found her Force signature, he hit another wall. And then another, and another ...

No matter how many walls he passed through, he was always greeted by another one, much harder to break. Eventually, he was pulled away by his master's voice.

"She is not with us anymore, Obi Wan. But you will see her soon. That much I can tell."

"She has visited you." Obi Wan correctly guessed. "She is not the same as when you last saw her. The pain blinds her from the truth. It makes her more suceptible to the dark forces surrounding her and Anakin."

Why did his master have to bring up Anakin? Since Mary had started seeing Anakin again, there had been a glimmer of hope that the three of them could patch things up but then this happened.

"You must not allow yourself to be given to certainty. Mary is no more beyond salvation than Anakin."

"With all due respect, Qui God, Anakin isn't the reincarnation of a master of evil who was mistaken for a god by lesser beings." Obi Wan pointed out.

"His journey was no more traumatic. If you wish to break the curse she set on herself, you have to remind her who she was and what she is yet capable of."

Obi Wan smirked. A cold smirk, uncharacteristic of him. "The last lines of dialogue Mary Tudor had R2 record come from an old song about Meluina's exploits. She purposedly wanted me and Anakin to hear it so we would know who she really was underneath her current guise."

"There is a lot you still have to learn Obi Wan. Dark side. Light side. They are all part of the Force. There cannot be one without the other. Balance is what a Jedi seeks. What Mary was is not important as what she can be." With that Qui Gon left his side.

* * *

The mausoleum had only on guard on duty. Anakin used little of his Force powers on him. Weak minds were easy to subdue. Pushing the sleeping guard aside, Anakin stepped inside. It was a large structure which held many tombs. Mary's was the one at the end, buried less than three feet underground. Nobody would know it was hers except for the humble steel sign which read her name.

_Ironic._ He thought in old Sidious' voice. The new republic thought it convenient to place her in the same resting place as his wife, Padme Amidala.

Levitating the steel sign and everything else on top, all that was left was to dig. It didn't take him long. 

At that moment Padme appeared. Anakin need not turn to acknowledge her presence. Both knew she'd be here. 

"If you come to warn me, not to do this. You are too late."

"I want you to be happy, Ani."

"Is that why you kept her miscarriage from me?"

"I didn't know until it was too late. I was going to tell you but then I found I was pregnant and I didn't want the truth to ruin our happy moment together."

"Everything must be censored for the good of Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one, the hero without fear. Let me tell you something," he said as he began to dig, "I used to care about the well being of the galaxy. Whenever we visited your family, I felt at home with them. If you had told me that it was all a lie and Mary wanted to use me to overthrow her father or some other wild scheme, I would have believed you." That's how much I loved you.

"Ani, your biggest flaw has always been to view life in shades of black and white but it is far more complicated than that. People are often grey. I saw how much you loved and were willing to sacrifice everything for me. When I was with you, I felt complete but we were both living a lie. We were so young when we met each other and then you grew and so did I. We both wanted a sense of normalcy, but in our desire to obtain it, we were blinded by our perfect visions of each other. We fell in love with something that wasn't true. I was the first one to realize it which is why I didn't want to tell you about Mary's miscarriage because I knew that it would drive you straight into her arms but much good it did me in the end, when you went right back with her."

What good was all this now? 

"You are at a point in time where you can just walk away and help Luke, Leia, Kyra and Marion rebuild the galaxy. Or live the rest of your life as you lived it in the past, haunted by what might-have-beens. The present is called the present for a reason. It is a gift. Stop living in the past and live in the now so the future is not so grim."

Anakin turned around. She looked as beautiful as the day he married her. Same white gown and curly brown hair. The only thing missing was her pearl studded veil. "You said to me that I was not all powerful. That there are things that I could never change. You were right, I can't change the past but I can change the future. What I am doing, is giving myself a second chance. Luke, Leia, Kyra and Marion, are all part of the past." _As are you,_ Anakin wanted to say but didn't have the heart to.

"Whatever else you have to say to me, say it. It will not deter me from my goal."

Padme gazed down at the man she had once given her heart and soul to. She placed a translucent hand on his shoulder. Even though she was dead, Anakin could feel warmth coming from her. "You are not all powerful, Ani. You must accept that she is gone and learn to heal so you can move on with your life."

Anakin shrugged. She pulled her hand back. Padme sighed. "I only want what is best for you, Anakin. If you truly love her, you will let her rest in peace. There are dark forces at play here; you risk extending their reach if you bring her back."

"If that is all you have to say-"

"No," Padme interrupted. Her tone became more grave. "A terrible injustice was done to all three of us. Your actions will only further drag us through the mud until there is nothing left but a trail of corpses. This is the last warning I will give you. Once you walk out that door, I will be gone from your life forever."

Padme prayed he would heed her warning. _Please, please listen to me this time. Don't be stupid! Haven't you been through enough? Seen enough to know you can't turn back the clock?_ Much to her disappointment, her hopes were dashed. Anakin walked out of the mausoleum with Mary's body, heavily wrapped in bandages to prevent further decomposition.

_You've dug your own grave, Ani_.

* * *

> **"In a hill where nothing grows except the old girl death, you can find the answers to all of your life's question. Seek and ye shall find. The old ones are mighty and wise ... They shall guide your hand. Give into them and you shall be witness to madness that will give birth to beauty and from that beauty, eternal springs shall flow which give substenance to the creatures who rule the old kingdoms long forgotten by Jedi and Sith ..."**

Guided by Mary's writing, Anakin prepared everything for the ritual. "May the Force forgive us," his captive whispered. Anakin let him ramble on about how he was an innocent pawn. "It's all my wife's doing!" He cried. "If you can have it in your heart to forgive us ... son."

Anakin wasn't moved by his tears. 

"You can't dismiss what we've done for you!"

_Done?! Humiliated my true love and drove her to commit suicide?_

"We wanted our daughter to be happy. She was so happy with you, then that girl came and bewitched you!"

"Spare me your excuses, Ruwee and quit the water works. It's unbecoming of a man your stature." Anakin roughly said. He spun around at the sound of his other captive's sneers. One pathetic man and an odious bitch. What a pair you have on your hands, Anakin.

Except for her churlish laughter and snide comments, Lady Stoneheart's stoicism remained. It didn't falter at the sound of Anakin's red lightsaber being ignited or his promise of a slow death. Had the dark lord of Sith lost his memory? Did he not know who she was? 

"I died once. I can remember the birds of Walder Frey clawing on my scarred face, picking up flesh for their young. It felt so good after a while that I stopped screaming and simply laughed. It is all joke after all. He killed me, I came back, my youngest daughter killed him and his heirs and my oldest took care of the rest."

_This time no one is going to bring you back, old hag. _

"Shush! Mr. Naberrie. Death is nothing to be sad about. Stop making excuses. He is a bastard just like Jon. You think there is everything to know about life. You do not know the half of what lies beyond. Torture me all you want, I am not afraid to die. I died once. You will just be taking another heavy load off my back." Lady Stoneheart smiled at him. She could hear his heavy footstalls, his heavy breathing, even though he was no longer wearing that dreaded mask.

"Think this through, Anakin!"

"For the love of the old gods and the new and your bloody Force, have a backbone, Sir! Death means nothing for those of us who have the blood of ancient and noble warriors running through our veins. What do you descend from? Do you even know who your mother was before she was raped by the all knowing Force?"

Anakin glared at her. Though she couldn't see through her blindfold, she knew that she had hit a chord. She laughed harder. "It hurts doesn't it? Was she or not a virgin before she was deflowered by the almighty invisible Force?"

"Shut your mouth or I will cut your throat deeper than the Freys did." Damn Walder Frey. He should have cut her tongue so she wouldn't speak anymore. He cursed the red priest who brought her back. If he was here, he would be sacrificing him too.

Lady Stoneheart continued her taunts. After what seemed like an eternity, her laughter died down. Anakin thanked the Force for that. Anakin had learned through the Sith holocron he had stolen from the archives of Thrawn before he escaped, that there was a place of Mortis which Mary in her diary also spoke of. Mary was too vague. Thankfully, the Sith holocron through his intense study of the Force while he was Darth Vader, had been easier to decipher.

* * *

**MORTIS, Wild Space Region**

**Settlements: 1**

**Population: 1,680 **  
983 Humans (690 terrestrials / 193 Non Terrestrial Humans)  
697 Non-Human inhabitants

He was surprised when he landed to find that the settlement of terrestrials and refugees from the Outer Rim planets had survived this long. He took the necessary precautions not drive attention to his person. Most of the townsfolk kept to themselves, the few prying ones were far too old or far too young to dig deeper into their new neighbors' business.

They lived off what the seas provided. Occasionally they received shipments of cloths and foods from nearby systems. Anakin asked one of the tradesmen why everyone didn't tax their exports.

"Old Republic now new republic. Can't keep up these days. The empire didn't care. Most of the imperial officers wanted something nice for their girlfriends." One of them said. Her companion burst out laughing. She added, "Don't forget the shrews. 'Old world junk.' Too proud to admit they were enticed by the old republic and old Earth's relics."

"Now that there's no empire, everyone is free to admit they want a piece of the old world. As if that will bring back it back but hey! Whatever fills our pockets, right?"

Anakin couldn't argue with them there. The new republic had enough on their plate warring against the last remnants of the empire. With all the information he gathered, he got got back to the task at hand. 

* * *

> **"There is no God. Only power and might. Seek and ye shall find ... In the wings beneath the city of the dead that lies within your heart is the mountain where the sun does not smile but is the slave of the great old ones ..."**

  
It was almost as if she had written this for him. Maybe she did. Anakin traversed to the top. The soil was rotten. It stank of dark side. "Good ... Everything is good. You are not going to scare me this time. If you think this is going to deter me, you're dead wrong." Wherever he turned to, he saw her face. Her kind smile, her chocolate brown eyes taunting him -no! daring him to do it so she could come back, break her promise and say she told him so.

Not this time, Padme. This time was going to be different. Anakin started excavating.

> **"So many bodies, so many hearts broken that I've lost count ... Look no further than the darkness beneath the tomb where the one who sleeps in the beyond haunts your dreams, yearning, desperately pleading to the unfortunate souls who fall prey to its lullaby to bring it back to the surface where it was once free to explore ... Hear it's siren call, it beckons you ... the wiser will neuter their brains ... cut themselves from the Otherworld's siren song and live rather than exist in a world of sorrow ..."**

Were some of the last words on Mary's page. It was a caution to whoever read it, not to bring her back.

"You saw this!" He said, knowing that somewhere Mary's soul was listening. He could feel a dark presence nearby. It was neither evil nor good. Every time he dug, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. A chill ran down his spine when he heard a child's scream. He turned and saw two red eyes staring at him.

_It can't be!_ He thought. He sprung to his feet and activated his lightsaber and ran towards it. The mist disappeared and with it, the red eyed spectre that haunted him.

_Nothing!_ His mind was playing tricks on him. He wheeled around and resumed his task. 

"I offered you the chance to flee. No one was going to know where we went but you wanted to make ammends. You owed them nothing but still you remained obstinate." It was the one thing he hated from Mary. In the beginning her altruism reminded him of Padme but the more he got to know her, he realized that she was her complete opposite. Padme had never known want or desperation. Mary had and still, she believed that everyone, including the worst of the worst, deserved a second chance.  
He never understood it until she fell victim to Arthur Tudor. It was then when she confessed him who she had been in her past life.

There was a special place, the Sith Holocron described, where the doorway between worlds was the thinnest. It was only once every two hundred years. The ritual had to be done right. Otherwise, a sacrifice performed on any other night would render it useless. 

**_Those that come back, never come back the same and that is the darkest reckoning. Your sin, the greatest sin on all living kind_** -This was Darth Revan's last warning.

Anakin was no stranger to Mortis. The Jedi still held that it was the birthplace of the first Force user. Anakin doubted it. Here, he had caught a glimpse of things to come. 

For many years it was believed to be outside the realm outside of any star system. Indeed, he, Obi Wan, and his (then) apprentice Ahsoka, were surprised to find it. With his victory over the Son, the sacrifice of his sister, the Daughter, and the death of their patriarch, the Father; the planet was ripe for the taking.

The infamous terrestrial reformer, Martin’s Luther’s wife, was the first one to step foot and build this settlement. A portrait of her hang on all the space ports. On the largest one, she was shown next to other settlers.

She was still regarded by many of the inhabitants as a heroine whose faith had guided her to their new home. _If only they knew_. The Empire didn’t need that blasted super weapon that costed dozens of star systems to slip from their fingers, as his proud daughter had warned the odious Tarkin, to wipe out entire towns.   
If Mortis had not been wiped out of its valuable secrets with the death of the Father, the Empire would have killed every one of its new hopeful inhabitants.

“I can remember when you told me that if you were the one in charge of the super destroyer Tarkin was commanding you would blast this entire town, starting with the house where Luther’s wife lived.” Anakin gave a hearty laugh. He unloaded his victims from the ship. “You always blamed him for your bastard status.”

Perhaps this was fate. What was it Qui Gon said? _“There are no coincidences.”_ This wasn’t fate, this was him twisting fate’s plan to suit his wishes.

A terrible wrong had been done to them. Tonight that terrible wrong would be undone.


	6. Truth is Darkness

After stumbling after the old book of horrors, Obi Wan had reappeared to Catherine. She had demanded to know where Anakin was. She wasn’t going to ask him for a second time.

That man had been the bane of her existence for so long. Now this! “I want him brought here to answer for his crimes.”

“It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?” Sir Thomas Seymour asked, not happy with being here. Why did he have to be involve in these galactic affairs again?

If this wasn’t handed so secretively he would’ve brought Han along so he would see what kind of beautiful family he was getting involved with. _Get in bed with royalty and you’ll get royally fucked._  
  
“Sir Thomas, you are here at Her Highness’ discretion. You are free to leave any time you want if this is boring for you.” Anne told him coldly.

He smirked at the concubine. If it weren’t for Han’s stuck-up wife’s diabolical father, he would have. _Han, you fool. I warned you nothing good would come from giving into your desire. _  
That bastard son of his had known many women in his criminal career. What made his that bitch so special?

_“Think back with your loins like the last time,”_ Thomas told him the last time he saw him. Han responded him in his usual crass way, backed up by that hairy monstrous first mate of his. _“Look at your life, take a good look at it. You are a war hero. You have a lucrative career ahead of you but you’ll never get to reap off the rewards if you remain by her side.”_ She was an overbearing, opinionated harpy whom Han thought she could tame but the idiot hadn’t realized that it was the other way around. Han’s refusal to listen to him would land him in hot water and leave him (yet again) with nothing.

Before he could reply to Anne Boleyn with an equally tart reply, his sister spoke up. “My ladies, forgive my brother. He is concerned as we all are.” Jane fixed her gaze on the Force ghost. “Are you certain it was Anakin who kidnaped Ruwee?”

“Of course it is him!” Anne hissed. Anyone who knew, knew she had no love for the chosen one and former dark lord of the Sith. Unlike Catherine, her concern didn’t stem because of a natural concern for her stepdaughter, the lady Mary. Rather, it was how eerily similar he was to Henry VIII, and his intentions towards her, were to the King’s when she had just been plain mistress Anne. “Who else would have desecrated holy ground and kidnapped the Naberrie patriarch?”

“If this was simply about vengeance, he could’ve gotten rid of him after lady Mary’s humiliation.” Jane said.

“Perhaps he didn’t think that anyone would point fingers at him? Why would they when the head of the Naberrie House is lady Jobal and after everything she did to humiliate my daughter and rescue him from certain death, the last thing she needs is to have her decision backfire and be used to ridicule the new republic.” Catherine said. No one could dispute that. “I want him found and my daughter’s back to her peaceful resting place.”

Jane and Thomas looked at each other. There was something that the pair was not telling them. As if on cue, the ghost of Obi Wan told them of the ancient ruins he, Anakin and Ahsoka ahd uncovered while on Mortis. It hid something sinister which, judging by the late Jedi's grave expression, had been awakened by his former apprentice.

“Damn, if I can die so I can come back looking that young, unblemished by age even in the direst of circumstances.”

“Thomas!” Jane scolded her brother.

“One cannot be feel guilty for speaking his mind. Unless I interrupted the Master Jedi from his thoughts, which if I did, I am not sorry as they must be important for you to show up in the world of the living.”

Catherine and Anne held back their anger. Inversely, Obi Wan didn’t held back. A Jedi was supposed to be at peace with himself, keep his emotions in check. What he had seen Anakin do, had shaken him to his very core. All the self-control he was known for had been thrown out the window.

Obi Wan’s patience was no longer non-existent. He harshly told Sir Thomas Seymour he was here at his own discretion; if he were the stoic Jedi who had mentored Anakin Skywalker’s son and daughter, he wouldn’t be meddling in the affairs of the living.

“Anakin doesn’t know what he has brought upon him. Out of everything else he’s done or thought of doing, this is by far the worst. Laugh all you want, this won’t be a laughing matter once the New Republic sends one of their marshals on Mortis.”

Sir Thomas became silent.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this ritual? You must have suspected he would have tried something like this.”

Obi Wan didn’t defend himself from Catherine’s accusation.

“The last time Anakin, his apprentice and I were there, the three Force entities told us that it used to be a place of worship for Jedi and Sith alike until it became tainted by spirits from the Netherworld. The Sith used it for a while but then like the Jedi, they grew afraid of it and sought to destroy it but there was always something prevented them from doing so. Anakin had access to the Sith holocron and many other dark teachings from mystery religions such as the one Jon Targaryen's red priestess, the lady Melisandre, belonged to on Earth. All of them make mentions of Mortis."

"How did he piece everything together though?" Thomas asked. It was on everyone's mind as well. They all looked intently on Obi Wan.

"I am not sure. The Father told us that he destroyed all records so no Force user would ever do what was done there but Anakin must have found out somehow."

His former apprentice had been rash in his youth but after his fall to the dark side, he had matured into a methodical, conniving leader whose calculating mind was more intimidating than his dark armor.

"How Skywalker figured it out doesn't matter." Catherine said. "Tell me the truth, Obi Wan. Is our Mary back?"

It would have been so easy if Obi Wan had answered with a simple "no", but his love for Catherine and his conscience prevented him from doing so.

A huge knot formed in Catherine's throat. After Obi Wan finished, she asked if there existed the slim chance that he was wrong. 

"I am telling you what I saw and felt. I asked my master the same thing after Mary died and he told me the same thing I told you. Mary has embraced her past and with it, the dark side that was always suppressed by her light side, has become dominant."

* * *

Eons before the Jedi and Sith, the first Force users saw dozens of possible futures. In one, twins would bring about a time of great peace of prosperity, in another the opposite. So many timelines, so many possibilities. The future was always in motion, there was no such thing as fate.

Only the Jedi and the Sith saw things in absolutes and that is why they were never meant to last. Out of the few members of these doomed orders who understood this was Melusina. She had betrayed the Sith when she faked her death in exchange of a life of pleasure and leisure. Much to her chagrin, that led to her terrible death.

Centuries later, intrigued by her lifestory, Plagueis meant to use her to bring about his vision of a future ruled by a new Sith Empire. But as it always happens with pretentious beings, his plans were stalled thanks to his treacherous apprentice who had no wish to see the rule of two broken. He murdered his master and used his forbidden knowledge to fulfill his ambitions. But he too was a victim of his arrogance.

Yet, for all of these old men's pride, Melusina remained. Truth was the daugher of time. Loss and suffering had brought her closer to her past. She was no longer afraid of what the future held.

As Mary, she sought fame and fortune. As the lady inquistor, revenge. And as Bella and poor, repentant Mary, absolution. She had driven herself to madness by trying to please everyone, including a non-existent deity. Now that she was at peace with herself, she understood the great truth of the universe and the origin of the Force.

She and Anakin were children of the dark side. Love had brought her back, but it was not the end of their story. Anakin was not meant to live the rest of his days in peace. He needed to embrace -like she had- his darker side and no longer be afraid to unleash his anger.

_All in due time._

Anakin was overjoyed to see her. He had his doubts the ritual would work. If it didn't -he thought -at least I have the screams of Ruwee and that bitch, lady Stoneheart to comfort me tonight. He promised himself to remember their dying forms, screaming in pain as they burned every night if Mary didn't come back.

Now that she was here, he no longer had to trouble himself with that.

He was a bit shocked that Mary hadn't come back as when she died. The Mary that greeted him when he opened his eyes was the same one he met decades ago in the court of Henry VIII. It was almost too good to be true. But it was real. The Force had given him a second chance.

* * *

When a mother loses a child, it feels like the end of the world. If asked, what they'll give to have their offspring back, they will say "anything." For Catherine, it was the entire opposite.

Anne no longer told her not to blame herself. Catherine no longer did. She knew now what designs Plagueis and other dark side users had on her child.

"I always thought I knew what God had in store for me, I was wrong. Mary wasn't my child any more than she was Obi Wan's." Though she desperately wanted to, she didn't have the heart to throw the miniature portrait she kept of her daughter into the fire.

Catherine no longer cared what the future had in store for her.

* * *

The man posing as the collector and seller of antiques, was not going to try give the former dark lord of the Sith another sermon. He had enough of those from his old master. He knew what he'd done and what he had gotten himself into when he brought back that sithspawn to life.

"In all my years watching men waste their lives for so meaninless things, I've never witness such a horrible barter." His longtime friend and main buyer told him. Farsuk shook his head. "One of these days, that man is going to be the death of us all."

"He's already been that. Now leave it to his blasted offspring." The antique seller told him, showing him his latest find. 

"My, my Mr. Morningstar, where do you find these beauties."

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

Farsuk chortled. "You're a man of many secrets but a magician? Hardly. What are you going to do once he figures out the monstrosity he's brought to our shores?"

The antique seller didn't miss the indirect hint. Unfortunately for him and everyone else in the galaxy, he was no longer the galaxy's most feared warrior. 

"Wars don't make someone great. But if I were to pick between war and genocide, I would pick the first."

He never took his friend for his a philosopher. "What's the difference? They both involve killing."

"Aye, but in one it is obvious what is being done while in the other it requires bravery and a steeled heart not to be swayed by the promises of a madman wearing the guise of a benevolent leader." Farsuk said. "I thank the drowned god that out of all the terrible things His Imperial Highness did, the only good that resulted from it the murder of Bran the Broken."

"You have never stopped mincing your words have you, Vic?"

"I told you not to call me that. No one's called me that in decades."

"If this is the end of times, what does it matter? When the great sun engulfs the galaxy and the darkenss mates with it to eclipse what remains of the light and nothing else is born, the end will finally be within our reach."

"Those red priests know less about the Force than the Jedi and the Sith did. My brother was a wild one but even he knew that there are some things you should not mess with." Farsuk looked at his left arm. Decades had passed but the scars were still there. "Moqorro whispered the same prophecy over and over until he didn't. Deep down he knew that the end was coming for him. I could have taken him with me to my travels across the sea of stars. The Iron Island Prince and the red priest, going where no one has gone before but that crazy, old man preferred death."

Morningstar gave him a small smile. "Considering what's happened, I say he was wise."

"Assuming this prophecy is correct. The Jedi thought their prophecy was right and the Sith had their own take on it too, didn't they? Everyone assumes that theirs is the right one but none of them take into account the fact that we humans are fuck ups who defy logic at every chance we get just because we can. Azhor Ahai, the second coming, the one who was promised, the One of Many, the stallion that rides the world, the Chosen One, the Sith 'Ari, all a bunch of wishful thinking from pretentious oracles."

"This is not like the rest." Morningstar said, informing him of what he'd seen, keeping the more gruesome details hidden. "Either he finishes her or she will be our death."

"Do not tell me you have grown superstitious since that red priestess brought you back?"

"It is not superstition. I see what she is even if he doesn't. Her presence will bring the new republic and that new first order into this settlement. Our days living in obscurity will come to an end."

"That will not happen. The two are too busy fighting each other to care what happens in the middle of nowhere. Take my advice, stay out of it and mind your business, just as we all have done for the past four decades, Dayne."

Morningstar grimaced at the mention of his true last name. He wished it were easy for him not to care and leave his past behind but how could it when Anakin Skywalker had brought it back from beyond the grave?

"Easy for you to say, Greyjoy." He returned.

"Don't be mad at the messenger." Victarion said, deadly serious. They both dropped the act, revealing their true selves. Victarion took out the horn and Arthur Dayne pulled out his sword from the secret compartment behind the counter. "The new republic is going to send their people. So will the First Order and then what? You can't expect anyone of them to dismiss this serious threat. They'll see it as their golden chance to show the galaxy that they are better at taking care of these matters than their rival. When they're done upping each other, they'll destroy every last remnant of this town and erase it from the records. Every one who is left alive will be exiled or put into confinement. You and I've seen it done before."

"So I keep my mouth shut and do an oath of silence." It wasn't a question but Victarion answered with a firm "Yes."

"Kings and Queens don't matter anymore. This is a whole new world which the likes of you, me and every other god forsaken soul in this town isn't ready for."

"The weapons have changed. Not the rules." Arthur Dayne said. "The rules of the game are still the same. Everybody wants to rule somebody and at the heart of it, there's always something or someone looking for some secret weapon or forbidden knowledge which will give him the upper hand."

"The layout may resemble the old one but I tell you, these people don't care about the old world." In a strange twist of irony, their goals resembled the ill-fated dragon Queen's, Daenerys Targaryen. 

"They don't have any respect for codes and tradition. If you care about these people, you'll let Skywalker play with pretend with his reanimated bride." 

After they were done with their business, Victarion left the planet. He had no intention to return. He had the bad feeling Arthur wouldn't heed his warning.

He punched in the coordinates for the outer rim. The First Order and the new republic would be at each other's throats again before they realized a Greyjoy was still alive and kicking. He had accomplished what no one else in his family had. He had traveled half the galaxy but he was getting old in years. Time for one last change of identity and settling down for good this time. He had earned it.

He prayed to the drowned god Arthur Dayne survived that mess. The man was cursed with eternal youth as he was blessed by it. If he was smart, he will leave that rock and hide in the far reaches of space.

As for the former dark lord of Sith and his corpse, they could burn in hell for all he cared.

* * *

Mary watched the embers of the small funeral pyre she constructed die out.

"Ashes to ashes." she said, passing her hand through the scorched skin of the infant.

"Dust to dust. Poor little thing, sweetling that you were born; you didn't deserve this fate anymore that I deserved to have my sons ripped from me. Twice." Her voice carried a tint of sadness that was otherwise unnoticeable by her calm expression.

"You can rest now. I've given your death, purpose." The town elders were in denial that one of their own had given birth to a monster. 

No one in this god fearing town wanted to look after a sick child who was born a little different. Anakin intervened, appealing to their moral sensibilities. But it was too late. By the time he had convinced them to have her look at the child, the child was already dead.

"Everyone blamed your father. Cursed blood. They said. They're fools."

They should have looked at the mother. Eager to be back into the fold, she had rocked her child to sleep. Literally rocked him into an eternal slumber.

Her deadly lullaby lulled everyone into silence. Her family descended from one of the town's founders. They were godly and dutiful. Her husband on the other hand came from heathens, bastards and traitors. His mother had opened her legs to every imperial so she could have extra rations for her and her family.

Half alien, half human was also among his many faults.

Few defended him. Anakin warned her not to get attached; he wanted to keep her safe. Her safety was his primary concern. "Anakin should know by now that I can handle things on my own. It is funny you know, I thought God had answered my prayers when I fell pregnant again. The child I lost to the Naberries was a boy. Had he lived, my father would have thought twice about denying his oath to my mother. It would have made her a whore in the eyes of many, but in time she would've been happy. So very happy." She mused.

She perused the deadly scenery. It was dark. Depressing. The air was chilly. Besides the creepy winds, the only sounds heard were from crickets. "My mother could have returned to Spain and from there, she would have been inspected by my grandmother's doctors who would have informed her that she wasn't a virgin free of man's touch as she claimed. Exposed as a liar, she and Obi Wan Kenobi would have run off into a sunset and live the rest of their days as man and wife."

Mary smiled a cold smile. "That's not right. My mother was duty-ridden as was my father. Neither one of them would have shirked away from their responsibilities as Henry VIII did with his wives. One way or another, they would have found an excuse to go back to their respective places as Princess and Jedi and fulfill their destinies." Her smile faded. "Pathetic, really. I could have lived the rest of my days as a nun or a simple farmer's wife. Can you picture me as a simple wife? Of course you cannot. You are dead and the dead, my sweetling, have no say in these matters."

Her smile returned. "What to do? What to do? Sang my mother after I took that leap of faith that's become my renaissance. Who knew that the daughter of saint Catherine and the virtuous Jedi Knight would bring about the second awakening? Your soul will rest with those that lie in the space between the spaces, where true power resides" She kissed his forehead, recited a prayer then crushed his skull with her bare hands.

_You have no idea how fortunate you are. My sons will never know the wonders that the darkness offers or enjoy the peace that comes with being part of the cosmic void. But you and many other souls will be my light in the darkness._

Dark. Light. They were both two sides of the same coin. The Force took no sides because it was neither. Both sides needed to coexist in order to keep the Force in balance. The Jedi and Sith in their ignorance have corrupted the old teachings. 

* * *

Obi Wan learned many things as Qui-Gon’s apprentice. His experience and battle record had turned him into a legend. A fable for the sons and daughters of Grand Moffs to scoff at, a cautionary tale for the chroniclers in search of the truth rather than to propagate lies as their predecessors had done; a ray of sunshine, a symbol of hope for the rebellion during the dark times.

None of that mattered anymore.

His legacy was stained by the dark actions of his daughter.

_My daughter._ The words sounded so foreign. He could barely come to the grasp with the realization that he had a daughter. He turned the other cheek when he returned to England, four years after Mary was born. She was betrothed to the second son of the King of France, the duke of Orleans, Henri Philippe. Obi Wan had restrained himself from telling his master not to send him back. Doing so would force him to come clean. He could deal with many things. Qui-Gon Jinn's disappointment wasn't one of them. He was supposed to be the epitome of Jedi virtue, the living embodiment of their code. Proof that everyone, even someone who was under the wing of an unconventional Jedi could become an exemplary Jedi.

** _Good Jedi you turned out to be._ **

He didn't bother to battle his subconscience anymore. When he was a young man, he would brush it aside. For the first time he did not. He accepted what he'd done and brought about to the galaxy, but unlike Anakin and Mary, he was not going to get consumed by guilt.

Obi Wan Kenobi was unable to voice his discontent to his daughter. Mary wasn't letting him. Her old persona of Melusina had taken over. She and the other forces of evil were once again threatening the galaxy. The rise of the First Order, Luke and Kyra Skywalker's struggle to control their feelings, Leia and Han Solo's troubled union along with Marion's actions against the new republic main officials which had stripped her spouse of her rank and privileges, marked the renewal of the old cycle of violence.

_It never ends._ The Sith die but something of them remain. Obi Wan left the gloomy scene of Mortis and went back to Catherine. 

Obi Wan let himself be seen. The two joined hands. His touch was cold while hers was warm. Nature truly played a cruel trick on her._ If she had been born a man, what a fine King she would have turned out to be._

_So much of this could have been avoided by this simple change. But fairness be damned, nature had to have its way._

It was all preordained -Qui-Gon would say. His master was of the mind nothing happened by accident. Obi Wan knew better. The Force was powerful but it wasn't benevolent or omniscient. Certain rolls of the dice, it was successful at fixing, while others, it wasn't. When the latter occurred, opportunistic leeches like Plagueis took advantage. Using his vast knowledge of the Force, he selected Catherine as the perfect vessel for his pet project: the rebirth of Melusina.   
Sadly, he didn't account that the one who sired his pet project would be him and not the King of England. Thank God. After Mary had given birth to her twin girls and he and Catherine had lied to her, telling her only one of them survived so they'd be safe from their parents; he and Catherine had rekindled their love affair.  
Their unconventional union also helped keep him under the radar, away from prying eyes. A strange hermit living in the outskirts of town was something to make fun of and be curious about, but a pair of outsiders who were neither man nor wife was fer less exciting. Tatooine was a refuge for the scum, exiles, and heretics of the galaxy. The only few honest folk were the farmers and traders and even they dabbled in some dirty business.  
As far as everyone living near them knew, Ben and Cat were nothing out of the ordinary. 

As they slowly let go, a swift understanding passed through them. Blue-green eyes had met ocean blue ones. The two of them yearned to go back to those times. In hiding, they had lived freely. But reality had pulled them out of their daydream, back into reality. Their great-granddaughter, Marion's daughter, Iris had a portrait in her hands that was of her teenage parents, Mary's son by Arthur and Jon Targaryen and Sansa Stark's only daughter. In the middle was a separate picture of Mary.

“That night Arthur kissed you by the meadows, you whispered a different name. You never told anyone who it was until I guessed it.” Obi Wan said. And as he said it, he reverted back to his younger form.

For a moment, the two pair of ill-fated star crossed lovers were lost in a sea of time. How easy it’d be to live the rest of eternity in this delusion. Damn their duty and their honor. Why give any more care to how history will remember them. For this moment on, they’ll simply be Ben and Cat, two stranger with nothing and no one to account for.

If only it were that easy. Duty calls, their oaths far outweighing their wants; they pushed those fantasies away and returned to their current predicament.

“You always claimed you did not use the Force on me to second guess what I was thinking." Obi Wan nodded. Iris was unfazed by their interaction. She was the descendant of powerful Force users and dragon princes, bearing a stronger resemblance to the latter. "Has she been put in training? Are Luke and Kyra looking after her training like they promised?"

Catherine nodded. "Kyra comes once or twice, depending on how full her schedule. I honestly can't tell these days with Luke insisting on going on some quest to find lost Jedi artefacts." She shook her head, gave a light laugh. "He misses the good old days when he could fly off into the sunset and be this great hero."

"He is like Anakin in that regards." Obi Wan said. He watched Iris hold the portrait close to her heart. "Hello there, young one. When did you get so sneaky?"

"Don't humor her. She has a way of talking herself out of trouble." Just like you, she wanted to say.

"You are a young negotiatior aren't you?" 

Iris nodded her head vigorously.

"Do you pray for them?" Obi Wan asked. Once again she nodded. 

"What do you ask for in your prayers?"

Iris looked to Catherine who told her it was okay to confide in him. 

"I ask that they watch over us and give me guidance."

"Only the Force can give you guidance but they help you by stirring you in the right direction. Your father was an enthusiastic young man with a passion for life and your mother was a warrior like no other. You honor them by being brave like they were."

Iris showed him the jewel her grandmother Mary had given to her before she died. "Is it true that it can make you see into the future?"

"No, but it does hold some power. One day you will discover its power and harness it and use it for good." While keeping his pleasant tone, there was a tinge of caution.

The red jewel was one of many that the red priests had used for glamour. It was a powerful and dark device that many were afraid to use. Obi Wan had inherited it from his parents after he discovered the truth about his parentage.He was thankful that he let the Force guide him rather than follow his first instinct -throw it into the sea. The jewel had saved Mary and helped her recover her memories when she had been captured by Arthur and turned into his personal fool 'Bella'.   
Mary grew too scared of its power. After it unveiled the last bits of her past she had kept locked away in the darkest corners of her mind, she stopped wearing it.

Leave it to her to give it to her granddaughter. Mary wasn't one for subtleties. Iris' innocence would prevent her from being corrupted by its power, so Mary had nothing to be concerned about.

"I will guard it as the dragons guarded their masters during their reign over the seven kingdoms of Westeros." Iris vowed.

Catherine waited until she left to confess to Obi Wan her fears of the current state of the galaxy. "The new republic dismissed the First Order as Vader aficionados but they are more than that. They want to keep his legacy alive, if you can believe that Skywalker had a legacy worth keeping."

"Disenchantment breeds discontent which breeds anger. They're afraid, Catherine. The new republic has not delivered what it promised and they are asking themselves if all the trouble their parents went through for them was worth it? They'll sacrifice their freedoms for security. It's a small price to pay than the alternative which is wait for the courts to do something for them. That can take years." Obi Wan said. "If the new republic doesn't shape up, it won't be better than the old one and will soon lose its grip on the galaxy."

"History repeating itself." Catherine said with disgust. "It doesn't matter what one does, the wicked always get punished. It's a spectacle. That is what this has become. A circus, a sick twisted show and we've ran out of hope."

"That's not true. Leia is forming a new form of rebel group-"

Catherine cut him with her laughter. "That won't do her any good. They believe they are the next freedom fighters. They are hooked up on the same delusion as the young people joining the First Order. They're both lost causes."

"We can't lose hope, Catherine. The Force is still present within many living organisms. Iris is one of many. They will be the sword of the Jedi that rips through the old order to bring about the new."

"The Jedi are done for, Ben."

"If there is still a slim ray of hope, we must hold on to that. Otherwise, the First Order will plunge the galaxy into darkness. It starts with a spark then another."

"What if it doesn't."

"It must, Catherine. Luke will set up a new Jedi Order. His Jedi will be the new guardians and peace keepers of the galaxy. Iris will be the first of many pupils."

Catherine's face brightened. Suddenly the future didn't seem so bleak. Obi Wan didn't go down in galactic history as the Great Negotiator for nothing. He had an uncanny ability to negotiate peace treaties and get himself out of dire situations that Anakin and Ahsoka often put him. Coupled with his powers of persuasion was his ability to make things seem better when they're not.

Obi Wan had been hit by an onslought of terrible images. Only he and he alone was privy to the terrors of what awaited the galaxy. He couldn't quite make out the timeline of these events; all visions contradicted one another. Possibly the Force was telling him that the future wasn't set. These were only a fraction of what could happen should the Skywalker fail to keep the Force balanced. Or maybe it was a cruel joke of the universe, signaling the end of an era and the coming of a new one.

Whatever it was, he wasn't going to stand by and let the dark side get the upper hand again.


End file.
